MEDIA CONGLOMERATES ENTRY INTO BASEBALL: IS VIACOM NEXT?

The message sent by MLB owners in approving the Dodgers
sale to Rupert Murdoch's Fox Group was that "the pluses of
having Fox's vast financial resources, as well as its
expertise on global television and marketing, outweigh
serious potential conflicts," according to Richard Sandomir
of the N.Y. TIMES. Acting MLB Commissioner Bud Selig: "You
have worries about conflicts. But the returns on Disney,
Tribune and Time Warner have been to the contrary. They've
been great partners." Giants Exec VP Larry Baer said that
"any analysis of a media company owning a team is more
positive than negative" (N.Y. TIMES, 3/21). In L.A., Thomas
Mulligan wrote that media companies "are pushing further
into sports ownership in a trend that shows no sign of
reversing. ... The biggest motivator in the trends, experts
say, is fear of getting locked out of sports." Smith Barney
analyst Spencer Gaines said that Cablevision buying the
Yankees would be "a preemptive strike against what happened
in Los Angeles with ESPN West" (L.A. TIMES, 3/21). In
Boston, Peter Gammons wrote to "expect Viacom to be the next
media giant to buy into baseball and widen the chasm between
the haves and the have-notes" (BOSTON GLOBE, 3/23). A N.Y.
TIMES editorial dismissed concern over Murdoch's purchase of
the Dodgers: "Baseball has always been a business run, with
rare exceptions, by proprietors with an aversion to red ink
far stronger than their professed loyalty to the traditions,
rhythms and solidifying virtues of the game." What matters,
"in the end" are "the numbers. ... That is just what
mattered to Mr. O'Malley and, if history is a guide, that is
all that will matter to Mr. Murdoch" (N.Y. TIMES, 3/22).